Edit: Do not be fooled by cheap knock-offs. The most effective brand of Pantothenic Acid can be purchased from Amazon. Just read the reviews, and you will see that not all brands of Pantothenic Acid are the same.
Pantothenic Acid, also known as the B vitamin B5, is found in a variety of foods, such as peanuts, whole grains, cashews, eggs. It is especially abundant in vegetables, such as broccoli and avocados. Pantothenic Acid plays many roles in the human body, ranging from joint health, wound healing, and the body’s ability to tap into stored fat deposits in the absence of food.
Pantothenic Acid, is a supplement that has been recognized (but not fully understood) for a long time. However, information about it’s skin care applications started making it’s rounds in acne fighting forums around the Summer of 2000.
It all started about 5 years prior, in 1995, when Dr. Lit-Hung Leung performed a study that showed a correlation between high doses of vitamin B5 and a reduction in acne and a shrinking of the pores. It took almost 5 years for this study to reach those outside of the scientific community. Still today, not everyone is aware of this study or it’s stunning, potentially life-altering, results.
Although the study was aimed at stopping acne, much can be learned by those wanting to gain control their excessively oily skin. There are two reasons why Dr. Lit-Hung Leung’s study worked:
- Propionibacterium is the bacteria that causes acne. It lives in and around the sweat glands and sebaceous glands and feeds on the oil secreted through these glands. That is why oily skin is traditionally very prone to acne breakouts. Scientists have known for a long time that if you eliminate the oil, you starve the Propionibacterium.
- Dr. Lit-Hung Leung’s study showed that a mega-dose of Pantothenic Acid reduced the amount of oil being secreted through the glands in the skin. This is how Accutane works. It dries out almost every bit of oil in your skin (this is why dry skin and cracked lips are so common with Accutane users) and your acne magically disappears.
But, B5 (Pantothenic Acid) is different from Accutane. It’s water-soluble, meaning that it’s not stored in the body. If your body doesn’t use the B5, it’s eliminated from the body – primarily through the urine. Overdosing on B5 is rare, and certainly not life-threatening. The worst symptom of “overdosing” on B5 is diarrhea, but even that is rare.
How does B5 (Pantothenic Acid) work, you ask?
Not all of the details are known, but those of the skin care researchers on the cutting edge of science have a pretty good idea: It is believed that those with excessively oily skin (in general) have a tiny genetic defect that causes the body to be terribly INEFFICIENT in using Pantothenic Acid in the production of a certain coenzyme in the body called Coenzyme-A.
I’m going to get a little bit technical here, but please hear me out. I promise it will be worth it.
Coenzyme-A is used for an array of functions in the body, including the most important function: to produce sex hormones (testosterone and estrogen) that are required for human reproduction.
But, Coenzyme-A is also used to process fats for energy production – both stored fats, and those circulating through the bloodstream. Without Coenzyme-A, fats that cannot be used for energy will be expelled from the body. This happens both in your feces and through your skin (by way of your sebaceous glands).
This is the real cause of oily skin. Remember: Oil is nothing more than fat in liquid form.
If there is not enough Coenzyme-A to go around, it creates a dilemma for the body’s distribution of this valuable Coenzyme. But, given the important roles Coenzyme-A plays in the body, it has to prioritize the needs of the body as a whole.
All things considered, the role that Coenzyme-A plays in reproduction is MOST important. This means that that it will use Coenzyme-A to produce sex hormones before it will use Coenzyme-A metabolize fats in the bloodstream. Therefore, if there is not enough Coenzyme-A to go around, fats will not be converted to energy and they will exit the body via the colon and the skin – resulting in excessively oily skin.
So, the trick is having enough Coenzyme-A to go around, right?
How do we do that?
Well, Coenzyme-A is composed of Cysteamine, Pantothenic Acid, and Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). Of these three substances, Pantothenic Acid is the only one that cannot be produced by the body.
This means that is MUST be consumed in your diet.
Pantothenic Acid can be purchased locally, but try to get the Timed Release brand by Kal. I’m sure it varies in price from area to area, but I can purchase it from the local health food store for about $20 a bottle. It’s much cheaper if you order it from Amazon.com.
In the next part of my “oily face remedy”, we will look at how much Pantothenic Acid you need to take in order to see results.
It is a very good article. I started taking B5 now.
Are there any results?
Yes, Henry, I would also like to know how things are coming along with your B5. Did you see any changes in your skin?
Thank you. I have very oily skin and will take your advice. I just purchased Kal brand Panothenic Acid from Amazon.com
It’s been almost a year since you purchased your B5, Rahul. How did things turn out?
Are there any other food that contains this Pantothenic Acid aside the ones aforementioned?
Hepafras, there are probably a lot of foods that contain Pantothenic Acid, but not in enough quantity to be practical in reducing the frequency of oily skin.
Hi, what is the difference in 1000mg and 500mg capsules? Which one should i buy? Thanks
I’m hoping this will work for my skin!
Essentially, the 500 mg dosage is easier to swallow, since the pills are smaller. Aside from that, there isn’t any difference. Be sure to get the ones that are “sustained release” or “timed release” as these tend to stay in your system longer and usually give better results.
Hi, my question is What is special about the brand KAL for B5? Because i wanted to give it a try, and i have been looking other brands and i also read the ingredients and the context of them including Kal, and asked the pharmacist and doctors about it, and i came to conclusion that they are all the same. So i just wanted to know why Kal is better then other brands when all of the brands contain the same things?
Thank you very much.
Gina, to be honest, I don’t know what is so special about the Kal brand. It’s the brand that I have use the most, and therefore, it’s what I recommend. Also, if you look at the consumer feedback on Amazon.com for the Kal brand, people specifically mention that it helped with their skin problems.
I’m thinking that the big difference might be that the Kal brand of Pantothenic Acid is time-release, meaning that it isn’t processed by (into and then out of) your digestive system all at once. That’s just my theory, though. Feel free to do your own independent testing. If you find out anything interesting, be sure to let me know!
A little confused…can I get this b5 from the pharmacy as tablets?
Absolutely. Typically, I get the Kal brand, but I have heard that other brands work pretty well too. Unfortunately, I haven’t conducted a lot of research into the brands that work because the Kal brand works so very well for most people. If you can handle the 1 gram tablets, those are the best. But, I have also taken some of the 500 mg tablets, but not long enough to see how effective (or ineffective) they are.
I’ve been taking timed release panthotenic acid for 2 weeks and my oily skin is the same do you think I need more time??
Christian, I definitely think that you need more time. Honestly, it will probably take 6 to 8 weeks to achieve the best results. Even a dangerously-potent drug such as Accutane will take 6 weeks to see results, so it may take a little longer with a safe and natural supplement. My personal experience is that it took about 6 weeks to get noticeable results. Give it time and don’t give up… this is a long term thing.
Hi, will this shrink my large pores?
Thanks for the question, Ami. Although I cannot and will not guarantee that Pantothenic Acid will shrink your large pores, the study performed by Dr. Lit-Hung Leung back in 1995 showed that it did shrink large pores for the majority of test subjects.